Chapter Thirteen
Brenton
Things happened so quickly, Brenton had only seconds to react to the impending threat. When he walked out of Helena's house, he was hit with the strongest presence of danger. He didn't trace where it was coming from until the last minute.
He had to think fast because it wasn't just him he had to worry about. He thought about what Marie's mom had done the other night. He wished he could draw the threat out, but he wouldn't be able to do so and also protect Marie – she was too vulnerable right now. They were trapped in the enclosed fortress.
Marie was next to him, her eyes wide and panicked, and he knew he had to protect her at all cost.
They lie flat as hundreds of mini throwing stars rained down on them. He looked around for an exit, but didn't find one.
He saw a glint of light coming from the window of Helena's house. He mentally reached out to her and asked for help. For a minute he thought he didn't get through, but right then, something flew out of the window and it was on fire.
“ This is the only time I will interfere. Use it wisely,” Helena spoke in his thoughts.
Once the burning object was close enough to the ground, Brenton reached out and the flame redirected, came toward him and his hand caught fire.
He put both of his hands together and the fire formed a ball. It grew until it was the size of a basketball. He then spread his hands apart and the ball stretched. Once his arms were extended on either side of his body, he threw his hands up toward the sky and the fire created a wall. Careful not to burn the house or all the plants around him, he inched closer to Marie.
“Marie, I need you to get up and focus,” he yelled, straining to maintain the wall.
He heard her moan and he turned to look right before she collapsed completely on the porch, her face flushed.
Blades started to come from a different direction and his shield only covered the front of them. He had to come up with a new plan, one that involved him carrying her if she didn't snap out of it.
He thought about trying to divide his strength between himself and Marie. It only needed to work long enough for her to get to the truck. He was stronger with her there, even if she wasn't completely unblocked.
He had to at least drive his enemies back far enough to help her. She was safe enough lying down on the porch.
He reached out and sensed there were two assailants. It was the same presence he felt the other night. One was closer to the house, but the other was way out of range. He tried to connect with their thoughts to figure out what their game plan was, but they were too strong and somehow kept him out.
He drew the fire in then ducked as he felt daggers coming straight for him. Ten blades went over his head before he turned and shot balls of fire in that direction. He was relentless with the attack, not letting up for a second, trying to keep them busy. The fire had his adrenaline on high.
It would have been easier if they could shadow travel back to her house, but he knew Marie was too weak to focus on anything. Plus it was too far away. He hadn't tried to travel that far, he was told it wasn't possible. He had to think of something else.
Once again, he felt a threat coming from the opposite direction. He turned to catch a metal arrow, coming for him, in midair. He threw the arrow down when it started to burn his skin. He concentrated on that direction, still feeling for the other enemy. This wasn't working.
“Marie!” he yelled once more.
She finally stirred and tried to lift herself up. Her elbows were wobbling, but she managed to get up on her knees.
“We have to get out of here. I need you to fight through this and make it to the truck. Can you do that?”
She shook her head and balanced herself on the door knob. She pulled up on it and finally stood.
“When I say go, get to the truck as fast as you can and get in the floorboard,” he said.
She nodded.
The throwing stars continued to come down on them heavy. Brenton kept swatting them down with the fire. Then, in an instant, the assault ceased and he didn't waste any time.
“Marie, go now,” he yelled and she took off running as fast as she could.
He still had his guard up, trying to maintain the fire before it went out. He walked down the steps, scanning the area for danger, until he saw Marie fall out of the corner of his eye. She laid there, face in the dirt.
Something was blocking the sun, he looked up and realized it was thousands of daggers coming over the wall of sand, headed for Marie.
Rage coursed through him and flames danced before his eyes. He felt like everything was going in slow motion as he let the rage take over. He didn't think about what needed to happen next, he released the angel side and went with it.
He went into hyper speed and snatched Marie, threw her over his shoulder and took off. He was in the middle of the sand trap when he realized it was starting to crumble around them. A large boulder fell in front of him, almost pummeling them. He skirted around it and tried to regain speed. It seem like the road went on forever.
Marie was unconscious again and he struggled to keep her up. His momentum was waning quickly. Knives were still coming down out of nowhere, but he kept running; his eyes stinging from the sand. He decided to stop trying to focus on where the threat was coming from and get help.
He finally made it out of the sand trap and was back in the desert. This wide open space made it easier for them to get killed. He could sense the angels were still following, but he couldn't see them.
He called on Micheal and let him know they were in trouble. He let Micheal search his mind to see what happened and where they were. He let go of the connection as quickly as possible to focus on running.
He ducked and dodged knife after knife while holding Marie up. He finally decided to redirect his path. He circled back and headed for the mountains to have some kind of cover.
Just as he got closer to the mouth of the forest, thunder crossed the sky, clouds rolled and he knew Micheal was making a grand entrance. The wind picked up and blew sand all around them. Brenton could finally rest easy.
A cloud was traveling quickly toward them, then Micheal shot out of it like a bullet. Brenton took Marie off his shoulder and cradled her in both arms.
“You call for air service?” Micheal said laughing.
“Whatever man, just get us back to Marie's house.”
Micheal's eyes darted to the left of them, he took a deep breath in and blew it out slow, “It's DeMar and Shaniece, Azazel's descendants, we have to get out now.”
Before Brenton could come back with a snappy comment, he flew around them so fast, he looked like a blur, a smudge against a page and they vanished in thin air.
They crashed in Marie's room like a whirlwind; the room was in massive disarray. Brenton laid Marie on the bed and fell to the floor. Renea burst through the door, eyes hysterical and ran straight to Marie's side.
They filled her in on what happened and explained that Marie would be okay. She just needed to get past the fever.
“Why didn't you call me in the first place?” Micheal asked.
“I had it under control. If Marie wasn't sick, we could have taken both of them,” Brenton replied defensively.
“Still trying to prove something, huh? How many times have I told you, we work as a team, that is our greatest defense. You have so much to learn.”
“That doesn't matter now. Are you sure those were Azazel's people?
“Yeah, I'm sure. I could smell the celestial metal in the air. And the fact they were using celestial weapons means they were shooting to kill,” Micheal answered.
“Were they the same ones who ambushed us the other night?” Renea asked.
“Yes, I felt the same presence,” Brenton replied while shaking his head.
They let that sink in for a minute. One of their own was trying to kill them. He didn't know why. Brenton had been around so many angels all his life, growing up as a family, it hurt him that this was what it boiled down to.
“This is starting to get out of hand Mike. This is the second time they've attacked within the course of just days,” Brenton whispered.
They both turned to look at Marie. Brenton knew she was a big part of the solution. She just didn't know it yet. She was his key, his answer and he was going to do his best to make this easier for her.
Having Micheal here took some of the pressure off of him. He wasn't his mentor, but he confided in him a lot. Micheal acted like a big brother and Brenton respected him for it.
Micheal looked like he could be a father, although he was only nineteen. He was a six foot two Puerto Rican, with black wavy hair, dark brown eyes, chiseled jaw line, and a body built like a pro wrestler.
He stood in the corner of Marie's room like a statue, his face furrowed. He was always thinking and planning ahead. It was in his nature.
Marie finally came around an hour later and she looked radiant. Brenton must have looked like a complete idiot for the way he was staring at her. Everything about her changed. She was beautiful before, but this was just intimidating. She was an angel indeed.
“Why is everyone staring at me like that?” she asked.
Brenton stepped up to tell her what happened after she passed out and Micheal chimed in to add how he saved them.
She was furious with herself. She wished she could have been a part of the fight instead she was part of the problem. Brenton was excited about how fluid and in sync they were. Her thoughts, although jumbled, were coming out of nowhere and Brenton could hear them without even trying to.
“Wait, why didn't Helena warn us if she knew we would be attacked? And why would she let me eat the leaf?” Marie asked.
“I think she's sadistic. She probably did it for kicks. She's been around for a long time, she has to amuse herself some kind of way,” he said.
“I don't think so,” her mom said. “I've known Helena for a long time now and that was a training exercise. Marie has to know how it feels to be down and learn how to pick herself up or she won't make it. There will be times when you will be weakened by the enemy and you will die if you can't work around it.”
“She's right. You must train immediately,” Micheal added. “It's clear Azazel's kids are after you. They have never attacked like this before.”
“But why me? What do they want?”
The question hung in the air. No one knew how to answer it. They had to think she was a threat and she needed to be eliminated, but what would they have to gain when they did?